Page:The works of Li Po - Obata.djvu/114

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��>8. TO MENG HAOJAN

I like you, my friend, Meng,

Your love of beauty is something known

To everybody under heaven.

When young with red cheeks,

You cast aside your carriage and cap;

Now that your head is white,

You lie among the pine trees and the clouds.

You get drunk with the moon

As often as with the transparent wine;

And to the honor of serving the emperor

You prefer the rapture of blossoms.

Your nobility looms up like a high mountain,

Too high for others to attain to;

But they may breathe the rare fragrance

That your soul imparts.

��Meng Hao-jan was a native of Hupeh and a poet of no mean reputation, ranking next to Li Po and Tu Fu in the entire galaxy of the poets of the glorious Tang period. He died in 7^0.

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